CNX Land Resources, which began operating on January 1, is authorised to operate in 12 states, and also will provide land-related services to all Consol Energy subsidiaries.
Directors of the new company are Ronald Smith, chairman, an executive vice president at Consol; Brett Harvey, president and chief executive officer of Consol; William Stanhagen, who is president of the new company; and William Lyons, Consol’s chief financial officer.
"This is strategically a new direction for Consol Energy," Harvey said.
"We are an energy company with vast resources - coal, coalbed methane gas, and land - and we recognise that our land assets are valuable. We believe this opens a number of opportunities for us to create value for our shareholders through the development or sale of these assets."
CNX will partner with a developer to develop 1300 acres the company owns in western Pennsylvania.
Prior to the incorporation of CNX, Consol had underway a number of land development projects. Consol also harvests marketable timber from property it owns or leases.
"We fully expect that the centralisation of these land development efforts within CNX Land Resources will increase cash flow and earnings, in part through the identification of new and innovative sources of property-related revenue," Harvey said.
Consol is the largest producer of high-Btu bituminous coal in the United States, and the largest exporter of US coal. Consol has 23 bituminous coal mining complexes in six states and two Canadian provinces. In addition, the company produces approximately 90 million cubic feet per day of coalbed methane gas. Consol had revenues of $2.2 billion during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2000.
